Could a dot-com move to the Tribune Tower?

It was hard to read the news that Yahoo! was moving its San Francisco headquarters to the old San Francisco Chronicle building at 5th and Mission and not embark on a vivid fantasy about some other big dot-com companies moving to downtown Oakland — specifically, to the Tribune Tower building.

“I love the symbolism of moving into the Chronicle building, as it personifies the digital revolution in how people around the world consume media,” is what the Jacqueline Reses, Yahoo!’s chief development officer, said on Yahoo!’s tumblr blog. She adds, “We’ll have a fabulous on-site environment, including great food, a game room, collaborative work stations, and ample room for teams to work together and have fun.”

Given that HUB Oakland, Call Socket, Pandora, Ask.com, SparkArt, Tech Liminal, and many other tech companies are already clustered in Oakland, is it unreasonable to imagine a Yahoo!, Google, Twitter, or similar big company that is now renting in Silicon Valley and/or San Francisco might want to move downtown?

On the other hand, San Francisco doesn’t have the history of demonstrations, protests, window-breaking, BART station shut-downs and general chaos that is both a strong part of Oakland’s present and its labor-driven past. Those problems have been so acute in recent months that some of Oakland’s tech companies are saying privately that, until we get a better synch between the Mayor and the police department around quality of life issues, recruiting more tech companies to Oakland has some challenges.

The companies that would want to move here would need managers that valued affordable real estate, great transportation, a good climate and a truly diverse community over some of the really frustrating disruptions Oakland has endured.

What do you think? Any candidates you’d suggest move from San Francisco and Silicon Valley to Oakland?

10 Comments

I agree with the tech companies. The leadership in Oakland need unity-of-command. Everyone needs to get on the same page and start working together so this city, with endless potential, can flourish. The reasons more tech companies DON’T come here are the same reasons the A’s want to LEAVE. Speaking of which, the Town needs to do everything they can to get that Howard Street Terminal location turned into a ball park…it will help attract business and convert one section of the city into a vibrant business district.

But wouldn’t a tech company coming to Oakland fly in the face of Oakland Local’s 45 part series on Gentrification, where tech workers were soundly criticized and demonized? We want companies to bring jobs and prosperity to to Oakland, but they all have to be non-profit coalitions for justice, that are unanimously approved by Decolonize Oakland.

Right now I see more blight and vacancy downtown/uptown than I do any gentrification. East-bay offices would naturally attract more east bay workers, and indirectly lead to more support businesses. In just the past year we’ve seen many new food, drink, and retail businesses open in the area, some supported entirely by daytime officeworkers. I count dozens of new employees in the area.

It’s extremely short-sighted to think that the only important criteria for businesses moving to Oakland is that they hire only Oaklanders. If a company sets up shop in a city, there will of course be new local hires, but it also means that people who come to work here may also choose to live here and pay rent or buy homes here, frequent the businesses here, and if that’s gentrification, so be it… In addition there’s the business tax which will also help boost the local economy. I’m an idealist but am pragmatic enough to know that many of Oakland’s problems get back to lack of money. If the leadership would shape up, we may actually be able to make this city thrive and make some progress on solving some of our systemic social problems.

Many of the daytime office workers are Oakland residents. A few are my neighbours. But they don’t matter, right? Because when gentrification and business development is discussed in Oakland, the only community that matters is the one the “anti-gentrifier” is a member of.

“One cannot assume that any business that sets up shop in Oakland will hire locals. I’ve seen many coffee shops that do not.”

How on Earth do you know the workers at these coffee shops are not from Oakland? Did you ask them? Did you just know somehow? Or was this based completely on assumption and conjecture?

The reality is that Oakland needs to serve all of its residents. Many of these residents would like to see downtown improved, see less urban decay, and to see further development. Many are tired of Oakland’s unfair reputation and would like to see this reputation turn a corner in the positive. Many are not willing to wait for the nonexistant “perfect company” or “companies” for this to happen because it never will happen. These residents are also Oakland. These residents matter. Even if they don’t matter to you.

OAK is the ultimate in disruptive society so really innovative small tech company’s should look forward to the challenges of OAK and embrace them. I don’t see the dinosaurs coming to locate here, but then they are the lumbrlering old ( dying) giants. OAK Is right for upstarts. Somebody brought up the same reason the As want to leave. Wrong. The As want to leave for a much needed New stadium and better corporate opportunities. Hardly what a young tech co needs. Tech is certainly part of the crime solution and somebody ought to fund an incubator for just that reason as clearly that will be a big part of the solution.